Frattallone’s

There now are 21 Frattallone’s Ace Hardware & Garden Centers in the Twin Cities metro area (Minnesota). The growth of the Frattallone’s Ace Hardware & Garden stores since Larry Frattallone opened the first one in 1975 has a lot to do with philosophy. While most others in the marketplace insisted on getting bigger and bigger – creating SuperStores—Larry and his sons, Tom and Mike, held firm to the idea that customers would rather talk with knowledgeable people in a welcoming, friendly environment. They were right, and they keep proving it every day.

The Scenario

Given their commitment to customer service and to their store teams, Frattallone’s wanted to create a streamlined process for communicating time-sensitive information to both. In the case of customers, they wanted to let them know in real-time when a new order or an item they had left at the store for repairs was ready to be picked up. In the case of the employees, they wanted to simplify the scheduling process. With 21 stores in the region, weekend coverage needs surge and they wanted to know which employees were available for overtime or extra shifts without needing to have a time-consuming conversation with each to figure it out.

The Slooce Solution & Results

Frattallone’s asked Slooce Technology to implement an SMS messaging solution for their needs. Slooce’s API seamlessly integrated with their system. Where in the past phone calls to customers were needed, and sometimes time did not allow for them, now customer communication is just a brief text message away. Since the SMS implementation, customer satisfaction has increased thanks to Frattallone’s prompt notices. Frattallone’s also uses SMS messaging to send occasional promotions.

In the past, besides needing to consult employees individually for their work availability, the process of selecting who would fill new shifts was unfair as it was on a first-asked, first-assigned basis. Now, extra and extended work shifts are filled quickly through a fair process of first-respond, first-assign basis. As well, Slooce’s SMS web interface allows for the stores to text employees in their stores or across all 21 of them, saving hours of back and forth communications, of tracking people down for answers, and optimizing the whole process.